


every now and then the stars align

by merlypops



Series: 5SOS Song Oneshots [4]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Normal Life, Angst with a Happy Ending, Artist Luke, Bad Boy Calum, Blow Jobs, Crimes & Criminals, Depression, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, Family Issues, Fluff and Angst, Healing, Illegal Activities, Implied/Referenced Prostitution, Innocent Luke, Lies, M/M, On the Run, Outdoor Sex, Physical Abuse, References to Drugs, Running Away, Sexual Content, Slice of Life, Smut, Song Lyrics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-02
Updated: 2015-04-02
Packaged: 2018-03-20 22:47:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3668049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merlypops/pseuds/merlypops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'The sheer force of the love unfurling in Luke’s chest took his breath away often but he liked it that way, liked being reminded by his pulse thundering in his veins that Calum was <i>his</i>, and that he loved Luke back.'</p><p>
  <b>Calum gets in trouble a lot, Luke's had a bad life, and Calum would do anything to keep him safe.</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Anything at all.</b>
</p><p>Based on "Lucky Ones" by Lana Del Rey.</p>
            </blockquote>





	every now and then the stars align

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Braxton_Hoodings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Braxton_Hoodings/gifts).



> I love Lucky Ones so much, and my friend Brax loves Cake and Lana Del Rey, so this kind of seemed like the fic to write really.  
> I hope you'll like this! <3

**_Let's get out of this town, baby we're on fire._ **

**_Everyone around here seems to be going down, down, down._ **

 

Calum's sleek motorbike was like a ghost in the night, nearly silent as it tore down the highway with Luke clinging safely to Calum's back as he took the bends too fast and broke too late.

That was how Calum lived though.

Luke had been in awe of the dark-haired man for years and it was always the same.

Calum was reckless to the point of insanity but he looked so beautiful while he behaved that way that Luke couldn't judge him for it.

He could find no fault in Calum's actions because he was so  _flawless_.

They sped along beneath the vast starry sky, leaving their sprawling town far behind them as they burnt down the highway like a dragon.

Luke's lips were pressed to Calum's shoulder through the older man's leather jacket in a hard kiss, a silent thank you for the promise of the new life that Calum was offering Luke.

They drove until the sun began to rise in the sky and Luke's grip around Calum's narrow waist became dangerously loose.

Only then did they stop.

 

**_If you stick with me, I can take you higher, and higher._ **

**_It feels like all of our friends are lost,_ **

**_Nobody's found, found, found._ **

 

Luke had met Calum when he was sixteen years old, when his soft blond hair had been quiffed and his baby-blue eyes had still been innocent.

Calum had come hurtling into the store where Luke worked - clearly out of other options - and he'd had dark curls and glittering eyes and that same battered leather jacket on, and when he flashed the flustered teenager a winning smile and said: "Hey, baby, is there somewhere I can hide?", Luke had helped him.

Of  _course_  he had.

After Luke's brother Jack had been taken away by the police for standing up to their father - after he'd been locked up for the foreseeable future - Luke had felt this desperate burning need to  _help_  the stranger who was running from them too - and Calum had  _definitely_  repaid Luke for it.

Calum was Luke's first kiss - his first  _everything_  really - and that was the way it stayed.

Luke didn't regret it even for a moment.

 

**_I got so scared, I thought no one could save me._ **

**_You came along scooped me up like a baby._ **

 

The day Calum learnt that Luke got beaten at home was the last time the blond man saw his family.

Calum helped Luke pack everything he owned into a battered old suitcase and then they were stumbling down the narrow stairs of the house Luke had grown up in.

The blond man was blinded by his tears but he still saw Calum's fist connect with his father's jaw, saw the spray of blood as  _teeth_  came loose and fell to the threadbare carpet.

Luke still heard the crunch of breaking bone.

"C'mon, baby," Calum said and he took Luke's shaking hand, led him outside as Luke's remaining brother Ben shouted angrily and his mother knelt down beside her bleeding husband.

Calum opened the boot of his friend Michael's car so that they could stow Luke's suitcase inside.

"Wait for me, baby," Calum murmured, gently pushing Luke into the passenger seat and shutting the door carefully, and Luke had barely stopped to wonder if Calum was actually insured to  _drive_  the vehicle before the older man had swiped a metal bat out of the boot too.

Luke let out a terrified sob when Calum set to work smashing up the windscreen of Luke's father's car, could only watch in stunned horror as Calum threw the metal bat back into the boot, slammed it shut, and flung himself into the car too, flinging it into gear and stamping on the gas as they roared away.

"Don't be frightened, baby," Calum whispered and his palm was soft - hesitant almost - as he squeezed Luke's denim-clad thigh comfortingly. "He won't hurt you ever again."

"T-the - the  _p-police_ ," Luke sobbed out and Calum shook his head calmly, his chocolate brown eyes soft as he drove too-fast through the winding streets, heading for the apartment he shared with his friends Michael and Ashton.

"Your old man won't call the cops and, even if he does, we'll be out of here by nightfall," the dark-haired man said dismissively, glancing over at Luke before he broke too sharply to avoid crashing into the vehicle in front of them.

"We're gonna be okay, baby," Calum promised when Luke still didn't look convinced. There were tears rolling from the younger man's reddened eyes and down his flushed cheeks.

Calum's beautiful smile was soft and sad.

"I'll get you safe, baby," Calum promised, squeezing Luke's hand gently where it rested curled on the edge of the seat. "Even if I have to carry you, I'll get you there, baby."

 

**_Every now and then the stars align,_ **

**_Boy and girl meet by the great design,_ **

**_Could it be that you and me are the lucky ones?_ **

 

Just driving across the country in the car Michael had given them - which Luke was quite sure was stolen now – with no one but Calum for company looked  _awful_  on paper but the blond man loved every minute of it.

Calum cradled his face so gently in his big hands, kissing Luke like he was made of crystal.

Luke had never imagined he could feel as comfortable and safe as he did these days, and that was taking into account the fact that they had no money and nowhere to call home, save the rundown car.

Luke thought maybe those feelings of safety came from the way Calum made love to him so  _gently_  when they scraped enough cash together for a motel to spend the night in.

He thought the feelings came from Calum pointing out a particularly beautiful sunset or a constellation of stars that Luke had never seen outside one of his old science textbooks before.

The feelings came from Calum entwining their fingers gently as they wandered along beside the river in the same clothes they'd ran away in so many weeks before.

The feeling of safety only intensified when Calum found building work on the outskirts of a town Luke had never heard of before, and the pair of them could  _finally_  settle down.

With Calum there, Luke felt safer than he ever had.

 

**_Everybody told me love was blind,_ **

**_Then I saw your face and you blew my mind._ **

**_Finally, you and me are the lucky ones this time._ **

 

Life improved enormously for them.

Although Calum had offered to try and save up the money, Luke had declined the older man's offer of retuning to finish his science course at college.

Luke was much happier nowadays, staying in the tiny flat they were renting and working on whatever little projects he could come up with while Calum worked on the building site.

Luke tried to teach himself to play the guitar on a second-hand instrument Calum had apparently found going cheap in a thrift-shop. Luke tried cooking and painting and writing a book, but it wasn't until he tried sketching and found that he could perfectly capture the sharp angles of Calum's jaw and the soft glitter of the older man's eyes that Luke discovered where his talent lay.

He wanted to be an artist.

 

**_Boy, get into my car, got a bad desire,_ **

**_You know that we'll never leave if we don't get out now, now, now._ **

 

Calum looked like a painting when Luke was riding him.

Calum's tattoos were dark on his skin and his cheeks were a rosy red and his full pink lips were spread into a soft _O_  when Luke rocked back, sinking down until Calum was fully inside him.

Luke loved this, loved looking at Calum's chocolate eyes glimmering and how beautiful his dark eyelashes were against the tanned skin of his soft cheeks when Luke was fucking himself sloppily on Calum's cock.

Luke loved how the older man's skin flushed, loved how Calum's nipples pebbled and hardened when Luke rolled them between his fingertips.

Luke loved the sensation of throwing his head back and gasping in ecstasy when the head of Calum's cock hit his prostate.

Luke loved how his name sounded falling brokenly from Calum's lips as the older man fell apart, filling Luke with his cum.

Luke loved how Calum  _made_  him feel loved.

Luke loved  **Calum**.

 

**_You're a careless con, and you're a crazy liar,_ **

**_But baby, nobody can compare to the way you get down, down, down._ **

 

Everything crumbled three months into their new life together.

Calum came home with an ashen face and an eviction order stating that they needed to vacate the property within twenty four hours clasped tightly in his trembling hands, and when he fell down onto his knees in front of Luke, kissing the blond man's graphite-smudged fingertips as the tears began to roll down his cheeks, Luke felt something wither and die inside of him.

"I'm sorry, baby," Calum whispered and his voice was steady but the shudders tearing through him were almost _violent_. "I lied to you. I don't have a job. I  _never_  had a job. I just... I wanted to keep you safe, baby, like I _promised_  you... b-but... I couldn't do it so I - I lied. Mike stole the car and I begged the landlord for more time to scrape together the money but... but I couldn't find any more work s-so I had to -"

The betrayal Luke felt at Calum's admissions faded to be replaced by  _fear_  when he saw the nausea on the older man's face, and Luke stopped imagining himself storming out and walking down the highway alone, because Calum  _needed_  him now, and he was more important.

"Cal, what have you done?" Luke whispered and his voice was hollow as he knelt down in front of Calum, squeezing the older man's larger hands gently in his own.

"I..." Calum shook his head, apparently steeling himself, and Luke's heart ached in his chest at the fear and desperation he could see in Calum's eyes. "I transported stuff on the bike once Michael had brought it down a-and..."

His voice trailed away and Luke  _knew_  he meant drugs, and it felt like there was ice spreading through the blond man's veins as Calum carried on speaking.

"And - and I collected money from people who owed it but - but I stopped when the guys in charge wanted me to _hurt_  people, baby, I p-promise -"

"Oh, you  _promise_!" Luke said scornfully but there were bitter tears running down his pale face now because Luke must have been  _stupid_  to believe that things could ever get better.

"That's not the worst bit, baby," Calum breathed suddenly and his dark eyes were shining with tears as he hung his head.

"When... w-when things got  _r-really_  bad..."

Calum broke off with what could  _almost_  be described as a sob and Luke felt his heart clench with fear, even as his pale fingers left silvery smudges of graphite on Calum's cheekbones when he cupped the older man's face gently, urging him to look up.

"What have you done, Cal?" Luke whispered and there was a not-insignificant part of him that half expected the police to barge in at any moment.

"I..." Calum was unnaturally pale and Luke thought vaguely that it was probably a  _good_  thing that the older man was already kneeling down because he was swaying unsteadily now. "I l-let people... p-pay me to... to f-fuck me."

Luke's whole world seemed to crumble beneath him and Calum clapped a hand over his mouth, lurching towards the tiny bathroom, and Luke just knelt there on the carpet in shock with bile in his throat and pain in his chest.

It only took Luke a few seconds before he shook himself, rising shakily and following Calum.

He stroked the older man's dark hair and rubbed his back comfortingly as Calum retched, sobbing breathlessly as he clutched at Luke's hand in desperation.

When the older man was done, Luke pulled the chain for him, slumping back down onto the cold tiles of the bathroom floor and pulling a limp Calum close to his chest.

Luke's lips were soft as they brushed Calum's sweaty forehead.

"I love you so much for taking care of me," Luke breathed, uncertain because usually Calum was the one comforting  _him_ , but the older man was sobbing brokenly now and Luke had to try.

"But  _please_  never do that again," Luke begged, and his baby-blue eyes were wet and pained as he fought to keep his tears in, imagining with horror the sheer desperation that Calum must have felt to stoop to such depths. "I'm not worth that.  _N-no one_  is."

"Yes, you are, Luke," Calum disagreed weakly, shuddering when the blond man's darkened fingertips stroked his soft skin again.

Luke stopped trying not to cry and Calum fell apart in his arms.

It didn't matter though.

They were alone.

 

**_I tried so hard to act nice like a lady,_ **

**_You taught me that it was good to be crazy._ **

 

Luke found it strange to adjust to his new role now and, apparently, so did Calum.

Luke tried his best to take care of Calum but it was  _hard_  when the dark-haired man still wanted to do the same for Luke, despite the fact that he was probably hurting more than the blond man was these days.

But they were trying though, and that was what mattered in the end.

They'd left early in the morning, loading their bags and the few possessions they had acquired over the last few months into the boot of the car Michael had leant them.

Calum had done his best to teach the blond man to drive so Luke was behind the wheel now, following Calum on his motorbike as he drove surprisingly safely through the streets, leading Luke out of town, showing him the way.

Even when he was broken, Calum was the one carrying the torch and lighting Luke's way home -

Or maybe  _Calum_  was his home instead, despite everything that had happened, because no one would ever love Luke as much as Calum did.

It was okay though because Luke's love for Calum grew with every passing day, like adding gasoline to a bonfire. It exploded out dangerously, obliterating everything else around it, but the fire in Luke's heart burnt brighter, and Calum stayed.

 

**_Every now and then the stars align,_ **

**_Boy and girl meet by the great design,_ **

**_Could it be that you and me are the lucky ones?_ **

 

They had nowhere to stay that night but, for the first time, neither of them seemed to care.

It was a warm, clear evening and Luke pulled off the road and followed Calum carefully down a dirt-track that was almost definitely  _not_  intended for motorbikes.

Luke switched the engine off when Calum climbed off the bike and then the pair of them simply stood there, taking in their surroundings.

They were on a cliff top, wading through shin-length grass that was swaying gently in the breeze like waves, although the ocean itself was sparkling far below them, almost indigo as the sun sank blood-red below the horizon.

The sky was a yellowish-pink, reminding Luke a little of honeysuckle - and the peeling red paint on Michael's car was rough through Luke's clothes when Calum pressed him back against it, catching Luke's lips in a soft kiss that somehow hinted at desperation.

Luke took matters into his own hands.

"Wait," the blond man said, breaking away from Calum, and the older man looked disheartened for a few moments before confusion coloured his face instead because Luke had just twisted so that  _Calum_  was leaning with his back pressed against the car instead.

"Baby?" Calum murmured, his dark eyes brighter than the stars that were just beginning to blink into existence overhead.

Luke kissed Calum again, sliding their lips gently together and deepening the kiss with timid little licks of his tongue.

When Luke's small pale hand dropped to palm the older man through his jeans, Calum whimpered as his hips rocked forwards into Luke's soft hand.

"W-what -" Calum began and the blond man shook his head, kissing Calum's jaw and exposed throat before he sank down onto his knees in the long grass, tugging Calum's jeans halfway down his tanned thighs as he did so.

" _B-baby_ ," the older man gasped desperately when Luke took Calum into his mouth, sucking and licking at the head as Calum's hands fell to pet Luke's blond hair gently, just touching.

Luke stroked Calum's thighs soothingly, smoothing his hands up and down the warm skin as he worked to relax his throat around Calum, bobbing his head until he'd swallowed all of him.

Calum moaned softly at the sight of his hard cock sliding between Luke's soft pink lips.

Luke's hands were clever as they drifted up higher, cupping the warm flesh of Calum's arse before his fingertips danced lightly across the dark-haired man's hole.

Calum's hips jerked forwards and his eyes were hooded as he gazed down at Luke with lust clear on his face, and when Luke simply continued to bob his head as he let his fingertip press just a little harder, Calum threw his head back and came with a broken whine.

His knees shook and he slumped down into the long grass beside Luke, kissing the taste of himself out of the younger man's mouth while Luke struggled to fix Calum's clothing for him.

"I love you, Cal," Luke murmured when they broke apart, and he was half-hard in his own jeans now but he couldn't care less when Calum stroked the back of his neck softly before he brought Luke down gently into another kiss.

"I love you too, baby," Calum said thickly and his chocolate brown eyes were wet before he let them flutter shut, and his dark eyelashes fanned out against his caramel-coloured skin made him look like a painting.

"Always," Luke promised.

 

**_Everybody told me love was blind,_ **

**_Then I saw your face and you blew my mind._ **

**_Finally, you and me are the lucky ones this time._ **

 

When Calum got a  _real_  job a week or two later, things were different because, this time, Luke got one too.

It took them almost six months of saving before they had enough money to put a deposit down on a house but that only made it worth more in Luke's eyes.

He caught Calum gazing at him sometimes, when the younger man was rearranging their new furniture or sketching, curled up on the sofa with a sketch pad open in his lap.

"What?" Luke asked every time he caught Calum staring, immediately feeling self-conscious, just _because_ really.

"You're so beautiful," Calum said and his voice was softer every single time he said it. "I'm so lucky to have you."

Calum still got sad sometimes, when he was dwelling on the dark things that had happened to him, but Luke did too, and being depressed when you were trying so hard to be happy was  _painful_  but at least they had each over.

They were  _trying_  to fix each other.

Maybe that was all they could hope for right now.

 

**_Feels like, feels like, you know,_ **

**_It feels like falling in love for the first time,_ **

**_Feels like, you know,_ **

**_It feels like falling in love._ **

 

When Michael and Ashton got in trouble with the police – trouble so bad that they almost went to  _prison_  – Calum stopped breaking laws.

The dented red car disappeared mysteriously overnight. So did a number of other possessions they had gained over the last few months.

The guitar stayed though.

So did Calum's bike.

Luke’s love for Calum swelled up in his chest like gas in a hot air balloon.

The sheer force of the love unfurling in Luke’s chest took his breath away often but he liked it that way, liked being reminded by his pulse thundering in his veins that Calum was _his_ , and that he loved Luke back.

When it boiled down to it, that was all that really mattered.

 

**_Every now and then the stars align,_ **

**_Boy and girl meet by the great design,_ **

**_Could it be that you and me are the lucky ones?_ **

 

Sometimes Luke thought that Calum crashing through the door to the store and hiding under the counter when the police came barging in mere _seconds_ later was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Luke loved everything about Calum, from his soft words and bright eyes, down to his gentle singing voice and the way the ripped denim of his jeans clung to his thighs.

Luke loved how Calum picked the guitar up sometimes and settled down comfortably on the sofa while the younger man sat sketching at the table, and Luke loved how Calum strummed familiar chords and sang Taylor Swift songs in a way that was only a _little_ bit sarcastic because they both kind of loved her songs.

Luke loved how Calum lay on the sofa watching television some nights when he finished work late and was too tired to do anything else, and Luke loved how Calum’s full pink lips tugged up into a sleepy smile when Luke kissed him softly over the back of the chair.

Luke loved how Calum’s fingertips were warm as they traced his skin.

He loved Calum’s soft, dark curls and the shape of his lips. He loved Calum’s sharp jaw and smooth cheeks and how cute his nose was, even though Calum tried to insist that he was rugged – Luke knew the truth though and Calum was just _adorable_ really, despite how hard he might try to project the opposite.

Luke loved how Calum’s fingers entwined gently with his when they took long walks beneath the sunshine at the weekends. He loved how Calum only grumbled a _bit_ when Luke asked him to pose so that he could sketch him.

Luke loved when Calum brought an old Polaroid camera home that they used to take photographs of _everything_. Luke loved how some of those photos were put up around the tiny house they’d finally managed to put a deposit down on, but Luke _also_ loved how a lot of those pictures weren’t for anyone but them to see.

Luke loved how Calum leant Luke his flannel shirts and his scuffed boots, and he loved how Calum gently wrapped a scarf around Luke’s neck when they were leaving for work if the older man was worried that it was too cold.

Luke loved how Calum kept him safe, and he loved keeping the dark-haired man safe too.

Most of all though, Luke just loved **Calum**.

When he looked at the older man with his sparkling eyes and his beautiful smile, Luke knew that was always going to be the case, and he realised just how lucky he’d been when Calum had ran into the store that day.

He was the luckiest man in the world to have someone like Calum loving him.

And Luke loved Calum back.

 _Always_.

 

**_Everybody told me love was blind,_ **

**_Then I saw your face and you blew my mind._ **

**_Finally, you and me are the lucky ones this time._ **

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you thought by leaving comments and kudos!  
> Thank you so much <3


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